<font size="4"><font face="garamond,serif">People enjoyed (one might almost say "got off on") playing with the rules for constructing roman numerals in just this way. This is a culture that revelled in chronograms, after all. MDCCIIX is also (right) marginally prettier than MDCCVIII, which does trail off without the satisfying closure of X.</font></font><div>
<font size="4"><font face="garamond,serif"><br clear="all"></font></font><font face="'courier new', monospace">RICHARD NOBLE : RARE BOOKS CATALOGER : JOHN HAY LIBRARY : BROWN UNIVERSITY<br>PROVIDENCE, RI 02912 : 401-863-1187/FAX 863-3384 : <a href="mailto:RICHARD_NOBLE@BROWN.EDU" target="_blank">RICHARD_NOBLE@BROWN.EDU</a> </font><br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 4:56 PM, Carpenter, Jane <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jfcarpenter@library.ucla.edu">jfcarpenter@library.ucla.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
I think when smaller roman numerals precede larger ones, you subtract, rather than add. See also the Wikipedia article on Roman numerals, which specifically mentions the use of IIX to represent "8".<br>
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From: <a href="mailto:dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu">dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu</a> [<a href="mailto:dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu">dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu</a>] On Behalf Of Poremski, Molly D [molly.d.poremski@Vanderbilt.Edu]<br>
Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 1:54 PM<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5">To: DCRM Revision Group List<br>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] Publication date question<br>
<br>
Ahhh, interesting! Thank you so much!<br>
<br>
From: <a href="mailto:dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu">dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu">dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu</a>] On Behalf Of Deborah J. Leslie<br>
Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 3:53 PM<br>
To: DCRM Revision Group List<br>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] Publication date question<br>
<br>
I take it back. It doesn't appear to be a typo, but an alternate German way of spelling 1708. I did a keyword search in OCLC on the characters MDCCIIX, and a bunch of records came up with 1708 in the date field.<br>
<br>
From: <a href="mailto:dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu">dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu">dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu</a>] On Behalf Of Poremski, Molly D<br>
Sent: Monday, 22 November, 2010 16:41<br>
To: DCRM Revision Group List<br>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] Publication date question<br>
<br>
It’s: Historia ecclesiastica novi testamenti … / Christiani Kortholti.<br>
<br>
There are a few records similar to it in OCLC (#38742277), all with the date of 1708, but that makes me think it could be 1712 as well.<br>
<br>
Thank you!<br>
<br>
From: <a href="mailto:dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu">dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu">dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu</a>] On Behalf Of Deborah J. Leslie<br>
Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 3:36 PM<br>
To: DCRM Revision Group List<br>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] Publication date question<br>
<br>
What's the book, Molly?<br>
<br>
It must be a typo; if a printer really could realize savings from the printing of 7 characters instead of 8, he would have just used an Arabic date, which is only 4.<br>
<br>
From: <a href="mailto:dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu">dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu">dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu</a>] On Behalf Of Poremski, Molly D<br>
Sent: Monday, 22 November, 2010 16:32<br>
To: <a href="mailto:dcrm-l@lib.byu.edu">dcrm-l@lib.byu.edu</a><br>
Subject: [DCRM-L] Publication date question<br>
<br>
Hello everyone,<br>
<br>
I’m currently cataloging a work with the publication date of: “MDCCIIX” printed in red ink.<br>
<br>
Is this 1708 or 1712? Is it possible that the date was shortened by one character (MDCCIIX as opposed to MDCCVIII) to conserve printing costs? Was this a normal practice or merely a typo?<br>
<br>
Thank you very much,<br>
Molly<br>
<br>
Molly D. Poremski<br>
Cataloging Librarian<br>
Jean and Alexander Heard Library<br>
Vanderbilt University<br>
419 21st Ave. S.<br>
Nashville, TN 37203<br>
(615) 343-1965<br>
<a href="mailto:molly.d.poremskI@vanderbilt.edu">molly.d.poremskI@vanderbilt.edu</a><br>
<br>
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